Cisco CallManager Extension Mobility

Cisco CallManager Extension Mobility is an approach to organizing work environments so that workspacesincluding offices, cubicles, and desksare not permanently assigned to individuals. Instead, employees "check into" an office space by performing a login process at the Cisco IP Phone where they want to receive their calls. Following the login, the IP Phone is assigned the appropriate direct telephone number with all of its characteristics (ring type, speed dialing, and so on). Environments where employees do not routinely conduct business in the same office space every day, such as sales offices, commonly use Cisco CallManager Extension Mobility. It is often referred to as "hoteling."

Cisco CallManager provides a standard login service. The login service can be expanded by using a set of Extensible Markup Language (XML) requests over HTTP. Third parties (including customers and integrators) can replace the login user interface with one of their own design. For example, capabilities can be added to the standard login service such as authenticating via smart card readers or automating the login process according to a "desk sharing" web application.

Because Cisco CallManager Extension Mobility is enabled by XML-based services, it is available only on Cisco IP Phones.

Extension Mobility Example

Figure 17-1 illustrates an example of Extension Mobility.

Figure 17-1. Extension Mobility in Action

Terry has configured a user device profile called Terry. This profile has a line appearance with a directory number (DN) of 7000 and another with a DN of 7001. Terry is logging in to device SEP000011112222, which has an autogenerated device profile, ADP000011112222, as its default device profile. The default device profile is configured with a single-line appearance with the DN of 1111.

When Terry logs in, the device restarts and displays lines 7000 and 7001. It no longer has line 1111 assigned to it. All of the speed dials and services configured for Terry replace those that are normally on SEP000011112222.

When Terry logs out, the device restarts and loads the autogenerated device profile.

Configuring Extension Mobility

Configuring Extension Mobility is no small chore. In earlier versions of Cisco CallManager, Extension Mobility was only available by purchasing separate server software. In CallManager 4.x versions, Cisco has integrated these server functions into a CallManager service managed by the Tomcat Web Application Manager. Your first step in configuring Extension Mobility is to use the Cisco CallManager Serviceability tool Service Activation to activate the Cisco CallManager Extension Mobility service, as shown in Figure 17-2.

Figure 17-2. Extension Mobility Service Activation

Tip

The Tomcat Web Application Manager is an open-source application manager originally designed for the Apache web server. It allows you to start and stop applications (or Java servlets) without starting and stopping the entire web server. It can be accessed at http:///manager/list.

Using the Tomcat Manager window, stop and start the Cisco CallManager Extension Mobility service at http:///manager/list, where Cisco Extension Mobility server specifies the IP address of the server that has the Cisco CallManager Extension Mobility service running on it. Figure 17-3 illustrates the Tomcat Web Application Manager.

Figure 17-3. Tomcat Web Application Manager

When the service is activated, configure the following elements to enable Cisco CallManager Extension Mobility:

Cisco CallManager Extension Mobility service parameters

A device profile for a Cisco IP Phone model

A device profile for a Cisco IP Phone user

A new user

Add the Extension Mobility service

Update Cisco IP Phones to support Extension Mobility

To avoid problems with deploying Cisco CallManager Extension Mobility, be sure to follow these configuration guidelines:

Configure a device profile default for each Cisco IP Phone model in a cluster that you want to support Cisco CallManager Extension Mobility.

If you want to enable all IP Phones within a Cisco CallManager cluster with Cisco CallManager Extension Mobility, do not allow the users to control these telephones.

- When users go to their Cisco CallManager User Options web page to change their services, they must choose Device Profiles from the Select a Device to Configure drop-down list. They cannot control an individual IP Phone or modify the settings for an individual IP Phone.

- As administrator, you can change the services for an IP Phone by using Cisco CallManager Administration. After making the changes, if you update the configuration using the main menu (not the popup menu), you must reset the IP Phone for the changes to take effect. This action ensures that the new snapshot is stored as the logout profile.

If a particular user controls a device, for example, the user's office telephone, do not allow anyone else to log in to that device.

Cisco CallManager Extension Mobility Service Parameters

Figure 17-4 shows the service parameters for the Cisco CallManager Extension Mobility service.

Figure 17-4. Extension Mobility Service Parameters

To access this window, choose Service > Service Parameters and from the Service drop-down menu, choose Cisco Extension Mobility. Table 17-1 defines the settings in the Service Parameters Configuration window.

Table 17-1. Cisco Extension Mobility Service Parameters

Parameter

Description

Enforce Maximum Login Time

When set to True, this parameter enforces a maximum login time. If set to False, no time limit is set on logins.

Maximum Login Time (Hours:Minutes)

This parameter is the maximum amount of time a user is allowed to remain logged in to a device. The maximum allowable value is 168:00, entered as HHH:MM. Note that :MM is also an acceptable format for durations under 1 hour. This parameter is ignored if the Maximum Login Time parameter is set to False.

Maximum Concurrent Request

This parameter specifies the maximum number of login or logout operations that can occur simultaneously. This maximum prevents the Cisco CallManager Extension Mobility service from consuming excessive system resources.

Multiple Login Behavior

This parameter specifies the behavior for multiple attempted logins by the same user on different devices. The choices are to allow, not to allow, and to cause a previous login to automatically log out.

Device profiles are very similar to user profiles in Microsoft administration. A user profile consisted of a user's entire workstation environment: the desktop background, the screen saver, the files on the desktop, and so on. In the IPT environment, a device profile defines the common settings for an IP Phone: the phone button template, the music on hold source, the softkey template, and so on.

The device profile default is a clusterwide default used for each Cisco IP Phone that will be supported by Cisco CallManager Extension Mobility. The IP Phone takes on the device profile default whenever a user logs in to an IP Phone model for which the user has no device profile. To access this window, from the Cisco CallManager Administration, choose Device > Device Settings > Device Profile Default. From the left column, click the device profile, or if adding a new profile, click Add a New Device Profile Default, and the Device Profile Default Configuration window shown in Figure 17-5 appears.

Figure 17-5. Extension Mobility Default Device Profile

If you do not choose an audio source in the User Hold Audio Source field, Cisco CallManager uses the audio source that is defined in the device pool. If the device pool does not specify an audio source ID, the system default is used.

The User Locale field identifies a set of detailed information to support users, including language and font. Cisco CallManager makes this field available only for IP Phone models that support localization.

Configuring User Device Profiles

After you have created the default device profile(s) for the IP Phones, you must now create your user profiles. These profiles will be capable of moving between Cisco IP Phones as the user logs in and out of various devices. These profiles correspond on a 1:1 basis with Extension Mobility users in your network. The user device profile contains attributes such as name, description, phone button template, expansion modules, directory number, subscribed services, and speed dial information.

From here, you can select the user device type and add DNs to the profile, just like you were configuring a user IP Phone.

Note

Device profiles are created for specific devices and only work on specific devices. For example, a device profile created for a 7960 IP Phone will not be able to log in to a 7940 or 7970 IP Phone.

Associating Users with Device Profiles

New users must be configured before they can use Cisco CallManager Extension Mobility. To add a new user for Cisco CallManager Extension Mobility, follow these steps:

Step 1.

In Cisco CallManager Administration, choose User > Add a New User. The new user creation window appears, as shown in Figure 17-7.

Figure 17-7. Adding a New User

Step 2.

In the Add a New User window, enter the first name, last name, and username.

Step 3.

In the User Password and Confirm Password fields, enter a password.

Step 4.

In the PIN field, enter a numeric personal identification number (PIN). Confirm the PIN.

Step 5.

Enter the user telephone number.

Step 6.

Click Insert, and the window refreshes. From the left pane, choose Cisco Extension Mobility.

Step 7.

Associate the user device profile with the user account, as shown in Figure 17-8, and then click the Update Selected button.

Figure 17-8. Associating Device Profiles with User Accounts

Creating the Extension Mobility Service

Cisco implemented the Extension Mobility feature as an additional service in Cisco CallManager. Because of this, for the IP Phones to support Extension Mobility, you must make it available as a service in the Cisco CallManager and add the new service as an IP Phones subscription. To accomplish this, perform the following steps:

Click Add a New IP Phone Service in the upper-right corner of the window.

Step 3.

Choose a logical name such as "Extension Mobility" for the service name.

Step 4.

As shown in Figure 17-9, in the Service URL, enter the following string: http:///emapp/EMAppServlet?device=#DEVICENAME#

Figure 17-9. Creating the Extension Mobility Service

Caution

The Extension Mobility service URL must be entered exactly as shown, substituting the IP address of the CallManager running the Extension Mobility service for CCM_IP. This URL is case sensitive.

Tip

To provide redundancy for a Cisco IP Phone service, use a CallManager hostname rather than an IP address. If that CallManager fails, the services will automatically failover to a secondary Cisco CallManager. Be sure you have configured the IP Phone for DNS support if you choose to do this.

Step 5.

Click the Insert button. The Extension Mobility service is now saved.

Updating Cisco IP Phones to Add Extension Mobility Support

The final step in configuring Extension Mobility is to configure the Cisco IP Phones with the correct service and profile information. If you do not subscribe the phones to the Extension Mobility service, they will be stuck on the default profile without users having the ability to log in with their custom profiles. To subscribe an IP Phone to the Extension Mobility service, perform the following steps:

Step 1.

Enter the device configuration mode for the Cisco IP Phone you want to configure for Extension Mobility support.

Step 2.

Click the Subscribe/Unsubscribe Services link in the upper-right of the screen.

Step 3.

Using the drop-down menu, select the Extension Mobility service you created and click Continue.

Step 4.

Click Subscribe to add the service to the IP Phone configuration.

Step 5.

On the phone configuration window, scroll to the bottom and click the Enable Extension Mobility Feature check box.

Step 6.

At the Log Out Profile field, select Use Current Device Settings to use the default profile you configured, as shown in Figure 17-10.

Figure 17-10. Configuring the IP Phone for Extension Mobility

Note

Cisco CallManager gives you two options for the Log Out Profile field: Use Current Device Settings, which uses the default device profile you configured for the IP Phone, or Select a User Device Profile, which allows you to configure a unique user profile for the IP Phone. Cisco strongly advises against using a user profile for this purpose.

Step 7.

Click Update to save the changes.

Note

You should also modify the Extension Mobility parameters on the default device profile for the service subscription to be available at all times.